Fairy Tail: A Guild Life
by SuperGenX
Summary: Natsu unwittingly confesses his feelings to Lucy, which causes a massive chain reaction that echoes throughout not only the Fairy Tail Guild, but all of Fiore as well. Will they become a couple? If so, what kind of challenges await them? Love is never easy, especially in a world of magic and dragons. Expect some fluffy love and heart-pounding action!
1. Chapter 1: Crazy Train

**OH_MAH_GAWD, another story?!**

**That's right! I have returned with yet another story! This time it's about one of my favorite anime's of all time, Fairy Tail! **

**I actually wrote this first chapter MONTHS before I wrote my Halo story, but at the time I was too shy and insecure about my writing to submit it. After finishing my most recent Halo chapter I revisited this story and its synopsis, realizing that it needed an extreme overhaul.**

**Since then, Fairy Tail has progressed further than I thought it would and I've remained a major fan of the show. So I'm dusting this story off and giving it a nice polish for fanfiction! Expect some fluffy love and pulse-pounding action; this is the first chapter of Fairy Tail: A Guild Life!**

* * *

_**-A Guild Life-**_

_**-Chapter 1-**_

The sun burned brightly through the clear blue sky over the beautiful port town of Cedar, reflecting its morning beams of light off of the expanse of the ocean. Seagulls squawking as they flew through the air were muted only by the sound of ocean waves gently splashing against the portside. Citizens went about their daily lives, be it fishing on the port or transporting crates of food to and from several boats.

Suddenly, an explosion in the center of town shattered the peaceful morning as it shakes the very earth. A mushroom cloud of smoke rose from the point of origin, and several villagers fixed their gaze upon it. What could've happened?

From the smoke emerged a figure; flying through the air until he landed upon a nearby rooftop. He donned a black open-collared, one-sleeved waistcoat which was tucked in and zipped up. Around his neck rested a white checkered scarf given to him by a very important figure in his life. He was a lean, muscular young man of average height with a slightly tan skin tone, black eyes, and spiky pink-colored hair.

He grinned as another figure leapt out of the smoke and landed on another nearby rooftop. This older man wore a black and white patterned coat, silver-chained necklace, and matching black combat pants and boots. He had long slicked-back blonde hair, as well as a full beard and serious eyes.

"Nice try, but you'll need to do better if you want to hurt me." The man claimed with a smirk.

"Give me a minute." The pink haired dragonslayer replied. "You'll be balling your eyes out by the time I'm done with you, yah creep!" He yelled as he leapt forwards, flames enveloping his hands. The older man blocked his punch, turned his arm into that of a stone golem, and punched the salamander right in the chest which sent him flying backwards. He managed to adjust himself in mid-air and land on his feet before glaring at his foe.

"So you're like Elfman, huh?" He asked. "Take this!" The salamander lunged towards the older man and summoned wings of flames to his arms. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" The flames smashed into the older man and sent him flying backwards, falling off of the rooftop, and smashing into some crates of peaches. The crates broke into splinters and the peaches inside were crushed.

"You think you can just kidnap those girls and get away with it?!" Natsu asked as he looked down at the man. "It's people like you that make me sick!"

"Natsu, calm down!" He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see a crimson haired woman in knightly armor land on the rooftop next to him, as well as a black-haired gentlemen wearing a black shirt and white coat.

"We have to be careful, flame brain. We're here to subdue Grent Maxis and find the kidnapped girls, not to destroy the town in the process." The black haired man noted.

"Erza… Gray!" Natsu paused. "The only thing I'm going to destroy is this jerk's face!" Natsu replied as he jumped down towards Grent, whom was climbing out of the ruble. Natsu's entire body was enveloped in flames, giving him the appearance of a demon.

Grent immediately regretted his decision to try and fight the salamander head on. "Whoa, hold on, can't we talk about this?!"

"How about we don't, and say we did!" Natsu shouted as he dashed forwards. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He threw a punch of flames at Grent, landing a direct hit to his gut. The air left Grent's lungs in a loud _whoosh_ sound, and his back smashed into a stone wall as he fell to the ground in a heap.

Natsu popped his neck before walking over to Grent, grabbing him by his collar, and lifting him up to eye level. Grent groaned as he looked into Natsu's raging eyes. "Now then… one of the girls you took is a good friend of mine. Where are they?!"

Grent chuckled weakly. "You think… I'd tell a runt like you?"

Gray and Erza materialized behind Natsu, both wearing enraged expressions on their faces. Erza pointed her sword at Grent's neck. "I'm getting impatient. Where are the girls you took?"

"Spill it, or else I'll freeze your eyes into ice cubes!" Gray threatened, wielding ice magic in his left hand.

Natsu's body became enveloped in more flames. "If you don't talk, I swear I'll burn you until there's nothing left but a pile of ashes!" Grent let out a womanly shriek as he stared into the trio's eyes.

oooOOOOooo

Isolated in a dark, damp, stone basement were several girls of various ages; mostly in their late teens. They were all locked behind a wall of metal bars, and each girl had their hands bound with some kind of magic rope. Most of them had ceased crying, as their tears had dried up days ago. There was a handful who continued to cry and cower in a corner, terrified of what would happen should the old man return. Every time he came down to the dungeon he would either bring in a new girl, or take one away and never have her seen again.

The most recent of these girls was a certain blonde who had orchestrated her own capture with the intent to find the lost girls. She knelt down next to another girl, who was crying, and smiled warmly. "Hey, what's your name?" She whispered.

The girl looked to the blonde through her tears and struggled to speak. "S… Selena." She choked.

"Hey Selena, I'm Lucy." She replied. "Don't worry; I'll have us out of here in no time."

"Don't even bother with that." Another brunette girl butted in. "Every wizard in here has tried to get out, but these ropes negate any magic power they touch. There's no way out of here."

"Not with that attitude there's not." Lucy retorted, surprising the girls. "I'm a Fairy Tail wizard, and we never give up!"

"Whoa, you're with Fairy Tail?!" Selena asked. Almost as if on cue an explosion above the basement shook the whole building, shaking several pebbles from the roof above them free. Some girls screamed in fear while others gasped and ducked down.

Lucy smiled as she looked towards the wooden door of the basement. "That would probably be the cavalry."

"Lucy!" A voice shouted from behind the door.

_That's Natsu!_ Lucy thought. "Natsu! I'm in here!"

The wooden door to the dungeon blasted into pieces as the raging salamander stepped through the dust and illuminated the whole room with his fire. Natsu looked around for a split second before his eyes fell on Lucy. His expression immediately changed from livid to elated. "Lucy!" Natsu ran over to the steel bars and grabbed hold of them. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine! Now get us out of here!" Lucy said, smiling.

"With pleasure." Natsu grabbed hold of the metal door. "Everyone stand back!" The girls did as they were instructed, and Natsu began to pull on the door with all his might. The metal hinges snapped apart and Natsu threw the door across the room, releasing the girls from their prison. Lucy ran up to the whole in the bars next to Natsu.

"Wait… we're free?" Selena asked as she walked out of the cage towards the duo.

"That's right. Here; let me see your hands." Natsu requested. Selena held up her hands to Natsu, who proceeded to use his fire to burn through the ropes.

"Um, magic doesn't work on-" Before Selena could finish, Natsu's flames had burned through the ropes and freed her hands.

"It might negate normal magic, but not Dragon Slayer magic!" He replied with a smile before looking to Lucy. "Give me your hands." Lucy complied with a smile and gave Natsu her hands, who proceeded to use his fire to burn through the ropes.

Once Lucy's hands were free, she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him into a hug. Natsu felt his face get hot for some reason as Lucy smiled. "Thanks Natsu... I knew you'd save us." Natsu remained silent, earning a confused look from Lucy when she released the embrace to look at him. Natsu was looking to the ground with a nervous look before his eyes met with Lucy's brown orbs. "Natsu... are you ok?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Natsu cleared his throat and looked at the rest of the girls. "Alright, line up! I'm going to get you guys out of these binds."

oooOOOOooo

Lucy rubbed her wrists as she, Natsu, Erza, and Gray walked down the sidewalk of Cedar Town towards the train station as Happy floated next to them. A few hours had passed and the sun was starting to set in the distance. "Man, it's good to be out of those ropes." Lucy claimed.

"I still can't believe you got yourself kidnapped on purpose." Natsu grumbled as he rested both arms behind his head. "That was reckless."

"Like you have room to talk!" Lucy retorted.

"Well her plan worked." Erza smiled as she crossed her arms. "We actually completed a job without destroying a whole city block."

"And the reward was well worth how difficult it was to track that bastard down." Gray smiled.

Lucy jumped up and down in delight. "Yes! Now I have enough money to pay my rent for the next five months! Nice work finding the trail of hair I left, Natsu! I wouldn't have thought that that creep would be hiding in Cedar Town."

"Yeah, no problem." Natsu replied without giving her a glance.

Happy flew down next to Lucy and smiled. "Oh Lucy, you should've seen Natsu when he was looking for you! He almost cried when I joked about you being gone forever." Natsu sweat dropped and glared over at Happy.

"Wha- No I didn't! Don't lie about that stuff you fur ball!" Natsu yelled, trying to grab the flying cat.

Happy flew over Lucy's head and looked down at her. "He even rushed ahead of everyone towards that abandoned house to find-" Natsu jumped up and grabbed Happy, covering his mouth.

"I said shut your trap, you flying fleabag!" Natsu pulled Happy close to his chest and whispered so nobody else could hear. "What is wrong with you? Why are you telling her this stuff?"

Happy narrowed his eyes at Natsu and smiled. "Because, I'm tired of waiting." He whispered back.

"Waiting for what?" Natsu asked.

Happy shook his head. "Ugh Natsu… you really need some help with this."

"What are you freakin talking abou- wait…. How did you-?!" Before Natsu could finish asking, the sound of a train whistle cut through the air and surprised the pyro.

"Here we are. Right on time, for once." Erza commented.

"Oh man… do we have to take the train?" Natsu asked, already getting sick just from thinking about it. He released his grip on Happy, whom proceeded to fly through the air.

"If you want to walk, then be my guest." Erza joked as they walked into the train station.

"Oh man… I wish Wendy was here so she could cast that spell thingy on me." Natsu complained.

oooOOOOooo

Lucy stepped onto the train right behind Gray and looked around for a free seat as Gray sat down next to Erza and took out a book to read. Lucy noticed Natsu sitting in a window seat, across from Erza and Gray, looking out at the sunset. She saw that the seat next to him was open and figured that it was as good a spot as any and took her seat next to Natsu. This earned a surprised look from the Salamander that came complete with a flushed face.

They stared at each other for a moment before Lucy smiled warmly at him, which made Natsu look away from her and out of the window. Lucy raised a hurt eyebrow at this, wondering what had Natsu acting so distant from her.

The train whistle blew, signaling the train's departure. The compartments buckled forwards for a moment before moving normally, and Natsu immediately began to feel sick. "Uggghhh... grgle..." He held his stomach as he tried to keep his lunch down, but despite all this he kept his gaze away from Lucy.

Lucy kept a sad expression on her face as she glanced over at Natsu, wondering what could be bothering him so much. Besides the motion sickness, of course. "Hey, Lucy." Gray called quietly. Lucy looked to Gray with a questioning glance. "It's a long ride. You may want to get some sleep."

"Yeah… that's probably a good idea." She nodded, before placing her head against the back of her seat and closing her eyes.

_Natsu…_ She thought to herself. _Did me getting kidnapped on purpose really bother you that much?_ She wondered as she started drifting to sleep.

After about half an hour, all of the Wizards of Fairy Tail, save for Natsu, had fallen asleep. The sun had set beyond the horizon to usher in a starry sky, giving the inside of the train a very peaceful atmosphere. Happy opened his eyes and peeked at the team below him, taking notice of how Natsu was still facing away from Lucy despite his motion sickness.

_Why does he have to be this way?_ Happy thought to himself. He quietly floated out of his storage compartment to the seats behind Natsu and Lucy. He made sure that Lucy was asleep before grabbing Natsu by the back of his shirt with his paws. _You'll thank me for this later, Natsu._ Happy smiled before tugging on his shirt and gently setting Natsu's head on Lucy's lap.

While still awake, Natsu wasn't paying as much attention as he should've been. He hadn't even noticed that his head was lying down on Lucy's lap; however the same didn't go for Lucy. Her eyes fluttered open as she felt something on her legs, and Happy quickly made his way back to the storage compartment before he could be seen.

Lucy looked down at her lap and noticed a motion sick Natsu leaning his head on it. "Natsu! What are you doing?" She whispered. She then noticed that Natsu had squeezed his eyes shut and silently grunted as his face contorted in pain. "Oh… are you ok?" She whispered again, placing her hand to his head.

_What's this feeling? _Natsu wondered as he felt something comforting on his head. _It feels… nice._

Lucy blushed as she did this, but continued on to comb her fingers through the salamander's hair. Natsu shifted his head to bring himself closer to Lucy, which earned a quite gasp from the blonde. As quite as it was, Erza still heard it and opened her eyes to see what was happening. Lucy failed to notice that Erza was watching as she ran her hand through Natsu's hair, seemingly calming him down and ceasing his motion sickness. A smile crept its way onto Natsu's face as he started to fall asleep, shocking Erza.

_He's actually sleeping while riding transportation? _Erza thought to herself. _What magic did she use? I didn't notice her use a spell or anything…_

"Mmmm… What's up… happy…" Natsu mumbled in his sleep.

Lucy giggled silently. _How cute… he's talking in his sleep._

_Oh I see._ Erza smiled. _It's not magic that's helping him with his motion sickness._

"Lucy…" Natsu mumbled, surprising Lucy.

She smiled and bent over to get closer to Natsu's face. "Yes, Natsu?" She whispered.

"I..think… I love… you…"

Lucy's eyes widened at this as she stared at the Salamander on her lap. She opened her mouth to say something, but only air came out. It took her a few tries, but eventually she regained her ability to speak. "You… what?" She felt a knot tighten in her chest, and her face exploded into a vibrant shade of red.

_Natsu… loves me..?!_

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**Hooooo boy, what'll happen next?!**

**That's for me to know and you to find out! =D**

**Anyway, yes I know this chapter is a short one. I promise that the rest will be longer, but this one was just to establish what I was going for. Anyway, I hope to see you on the next chapter! PEACE OUT!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Beauty and the Dragon

**Well hello children! Welcome to the next chapter of Fairy Tail: A Guild Life!**

**For those wondering when the next Pokemon chapter will be out, you may rest easy. I'm working on it alongside this chapter!**

**Not much else to say, so I'll leave you to the chapter!**

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_**-A Guild Life-**_

_**-Chapter 2-**_

"I DID WHAT?!" Natsu asked in a panic, practically pulling hair from his skull as he walked along a sidewalk of Magnolia. Random civilians walking by glanced over for a moment before going about their lives. The early morning dew, common of Fiore this season, enveloped Magnolia in a damp blanket as Natsu bitterly made his way to the guildhall.

Happy floated over him and smiled, ecstatic that his plan actually worked. "You said you loooooooooove her!" He mocked with a chuckle. "She was blushing for the rest of the train ride!"

"Happy, you jerk! I thought you were my friend!" Natsu threw his hands to his side. Of all the people he considered his friends, Natsu never expected this kind of betrayal from the blue kitty.

"I am your friend!" Happy replied. "And a good friend realizes when another needs their help, and you clearly had no idea what you were doing." Despite Natsu's thinking otherwise, Happy had indeed been extremely patient with the matter. Even before they were trapped on Tenrou Island for seven years, Happy had been watching and waiting. Sometimes he would try to push them together with a joke or two about how they liked each other, but they never really seemed to get it. That's why a few days ago Happy realized more drastic measures had to be taken.

"I wasn't 'doing' anything!" Natsu spat a little fire in anger. A man walking past turned in surprise and stepped away from the nettled salamander. "Watch'a looking at, huh!? Keep walking, pal!" Natsu was certainly, and justifiably, testy that morning.

"Exactly! That's why I had to intervene!" Happy replied, keeping a smile on his face.

Natsu stopped walking and punched a nearby wall in frustration; not hard enough to damage it mind you, but the loud _thud_ did startle a group of customers in the shop on the other side. "Lucy probably thinks I'm a freakin creep now!" Natsu might've been a rather thick-headed fellow, but he was well aware that a declaration of love was not something taken back easily. He wasn't even entirely sure if these feelings he had qualified as 'love'; for all he knew it was just an extremely powerful bond of friendship. "What am I going to do?!"

A voice served to bring Natsu back to reality. "Why would Lucy think you're a creep?" Natsu spun around to discover a cheerful Mirajane holding a plastic shopping bag. Based on what he could see through the plastic, Natsu had guessed that she was there for a few ingredients necessary in making her usual breakfast for the guild. Different herbs, milk, and what appeared to be a kind of meat were some of the bags contents.

"Mirajane? What are… how much did you hear?" Natsu asked, nervous.

"Just the part about you being a creep." She smiled. The two started walking again, apparently both heading for the guildhall.

Natsu breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good."

"Natsu told Lucy that he loves her in his sleep!" Happy quickly spout, shocking Natsu.

"Oh my!" Mirajane put a hand over her mouth to cover a small smile.

"What the hell, man?!" Natsu's shouted with a face flushed with red.

"That's so cute!" Mirajane giggled. "Big tough Natsu has a crush on Lucy?"

"It's… that's not true!" Natsu denied.

"Oh Natsu, it's alright if you like someone!" Mirajane started. "That's part of life. You like someone, get married, have some kids… all that stuff."

"Ok Mira… you are thinking way too much into this." Natsu sweat dropped.

Mirajane gasped at a sudden realization. "Oh my gosh! Cana and Levy will die when I tell them!"

"NO! No you don't!" Natsu threw his hands out in front of him to halt Mirajane. "You can't tell anyone about this! It's already going to be awkward enough just talking to Lucy again!"

"What? You don't want me telling anyone?" Mirajane asked, disappointed.

"Yes! Whatever you do, don't tell anyone!" Natsu shook his head and stared at Mirajane, grabbing her by her shoulders. "Not a single person! Please, Mira!"

"Wow… you actually said please." Mirajane realized, surprised.

"Well I'm desperate, ok?" Natsu admitted.

"Ok, fine. I won't say a word." Mira agreed. "But… running from this won't solve anything. If you ever need any help, you know you can talk to me."

"Thanks, Mira." Natsu smiled, before turning to Happy. "And YOU." He grabbed Happy out of the air and glared at him, earning a nervous look from the blue feline. "Not a word to anybody, or else no fish for a month!"

"WHAT?! That's not fair, Natsu!" Happy cried.

oooOOOOooo

Lucy looked to the ground as she slowly walked down a sidewalk towards the Fairy Tail Guild hall. A small cargo boat drifted past her in the opposite direction of the waterway, and the two men on the boat waved to her. "Hey Lucy! Nice day out today!"

Lucy broke her train of thought for a moment and waved back at the men with a smile. "Yeah, it's pretty nice!"

"You going on another mission with that pink-haired guy and his cat?" The other asked, and Lucy suddenly felt her face explode with heat.

"Wha- who told you?! How much do you know?!" Lucy asked, panicking. There was no way they knew what happened already! She hadn't told a soul! Unless Natsu... No. He wouldn't have said anything, he was asleep! Right?!

"What are you talking about? You go on missions with them all the time!" The man replied, amused with her reaction.

"Oh… right." Lucy regained her composure, pushing a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Uh… maybe! I guess we'll see!"

"Ok, see you later!" They waved goodbye as they floated down around a bend and out of sight.

Lucy sighed heavily and held a hand to her chest. _Calm down Lucy… everything will be fine._ She thought to herself. _Natsu was just… having a weird dream! Yeah, that's it!_ She paused for a moment and looked back to the ground as she walked. _But… why does part of me hope it wasn't?_

"LUCY!" Came a cheerful female voice from behind. Tiny arms wrapped around her from behind and Lucy caught a glimpse of bluenette hair before a petit set of hands covered her eyes. "Guess who!" The voice sang.

Of course, Lucy knew who it was immediately. "Levy! What're you doing?" Lucy asked with a giggle as she freed her eyes from Levy's hands. She looked over her shoulder to look the tiny mage in the eyes.

"What's it look like?" Levy asked jokingly. "I'm attacking you! Grrrr!" Levy started swaying side to side with Lucy in a playful manner, and they both started to laugh. Levy let go of Lucy and started walking alongside her. "You looked a little down in the dumps! What's up, girl?"

"Who, me?" Lucy pointed to herself and Levy nodded. "No, everything's fine!"

"Oh come on, Lulu! You can tell me anything!" Levy assured with a smile.

Lucy paused for a moment, still processing the events of the night before. Should she tell her what was happening with Natsu? Levy was her best friend, and she did need someone to talk to. Lucy looked around for a moment, bit her lip, and took a breath. "Well…. There is something… that happened."

"Oh?" Levy got in closer. She could sense Lucy's body radiating the nervousness, even noticing that she was growing tense.

"Um… it involves Natsu." Lucy felt her face grow hot again. Just his name was enough to trigger a flush! What was wrong with her?!

"Oh no… Did Natsu burn down your apartment?" Levy asked, concerned. Levy paused and thought about a certain event that occurred a few weeks prior; Lucy told Levy about how Natsu once again broke into her house because he 'had nothing better to do'. He had insisted on trying to make her some eggs, but as she expected it ended in disaster. Natsu started a fire in the kitchen that he had to eat to put out, and since he had damaged some of the hardwood floors he helped Lucy repair them. "Actually in hindsight I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner."

"No… nothing like that." Lucy shook her head. "He… uh… well…" Levy stared at Lucy while she tried to find some words, and eventually noticed her face growing red hot.

"Whoa, Lucy you're getting all red." Levy observed. Lucy looked to Levy with a strange expression and swallowed hard. She convinced herself that this was the right thing to do, and began her story.

"We were on the train here last night." Lucy started.

"Uh-huh." Levy nodded.

"And he started getting motion sick." Lucy continued.

"Not surprising." Levy replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Sometime during the trip he… uh… set his head in my lap." Lucy recalled clearly. She remembered the whole ordeal as if it was a movie playing in her head. She glanced over at Levy who was listening intently before motioning her to continue. "Ok… and I noticed that his motion sickness was going away, so I thought I'd help him and… rub his head." Levy nodded. "Right… and he fell asleep with his head in my lap."

"Aw, that's cute." Levy smiled, waving her hand in front of her face in a dismissive manner. "That's nothing to be embarrassed about, Lulu!"

"That's not… everything." Lucy hesitated.

Levy hesitated for a moment. "Huh?" She was taken off guard, expecting the story to end with the head in her lap.

"He started talking in his sleep." Lucy continued. "I heard him say that he… uh… loves… a certain someone."

After a second of being in shock, Levy reacted. "Oh my gosh, he has a crush?!" She giggled. "Who is- wait! Hang on I want to guess! Is it Lisanna!?" Lucy stayed silent and shook her head. Levy cocked her head in confusion. "Huh… well I don't think it could be Erza… Juvia's out of the question… the only other person I could think of is…" Lucy looked to Levy and opened her mouth to speak, but again she was unable to form words. Her face glowed in a vibrant shade of red, and Levy slowly started realizing what was going on. "Oh my gosh… oh my gosh! OH MY GOSH!" Levy squealed happily and jumped up and down, clapping her hands together. "That is so adorable! He has a crush on you?!"

"But he said it while he was sleeping, and I don't know if it's actually what he meant it or not!" Lucy blurted out, a thousand different thoughts flooding her head.

"Lucy, come on!" Levy put a reassuring arm around Lucy's shoulder. "You two have been pretty close for a while now, right? It's not crazy to think that he's starting to like you in a different way!"

"Well… maybe with a normal guy! But this is Natsu we're talking about!" Lucy pointed out. "I honestly didn't think it was possible for him to like somebody in that way…"

Levy smirked at Lucy. "Well… maybe it took a girl like you to knock him off his feet?"

Lucy let a small smiled stretch across her lips as she looked at the ground. "Well… maybe…"

Levy stepped in front of Lucy and grabbed her by the shoulders, giving her a serious look. "Do you like him back?" She suddenly asked, earning a surprised look from Lucy.

"Do I… what?!" Lucy asked.

"Do you like him back?" Levy repeated with that serious expression.

Lucy paused for a second. "I… uh..."

After a few seconds of silence, Levy and Lucy came upon the entrance to the Fairy Tail Guild hall. They both looked up at the same time to see Natsu walking towards the guild from the other direction. He was talking to a flying Happy until he glanced over and realized that Lucy was just a few feet away from him.

Levy gave Lucy a nudge to her shoulder and smiled. "You know what? I say give it a try. If you don't follow your heart, you might never know for sure. Good luck!" Levy quickly walked into the guild hall, leaving Lucy behind with Natsu and Happy.

"Levy wait!" Lucy pleaded in vain. She didn't know why, but it seemed as though Levy was speaking from experience on that last part. Her voice sounded so… sincere.

Happy looked around for a second. "Oh, what's that Carla? I'll be right there!" He said as he followed Levy into the Guild hall, leaving Natsu and Lucy alone.

"Happy, where yah going?!" Natsu asked, concerned. He mentally called the feline a sneaky backstabber, as he knew Carla was away on a job with Wendy. After a moment of silence, the duo looked at each other awkwardly. Lucy held onto her arm and Natsu rubbed the back of his head. "Um… Hi." Natsu said, summoning a smile.

"Hey… Natsu." Lucy replied, also putting on a weak smile. There was a long awkward pause between them as they tried to think of something to say. "So…. What's up?" Lucy asked.

"Nothing much. I was just going to chill for a bit. Stop by the hall before strolling around town… you know… since we just finished a job yesterday." Natsu replied.

"Cool." Lucy responded.

"Yeah." Natsu nodded his head. He took a deep breath. "So… how's your book coming?"

"Oh, pretty good." Lucy replied. "I think I'm about halfway through."

"Sweet." Natsu rubbed his chin. This was incredibly awkward for both parties. Every time one tried to start a casual conversation, the other would give a weak response that left little to no incentive to reply.

Mirajane, Happy, and Levy all peeked out at Natsu and Lucy from a window in the guild hall. "Well this is going nowhere fast." Happy complained.

"No kidding... they have no idea what to do." Mirajane smiled, finding their composers to be absolutely adorable. They were both acting like little elementary school kids who had just summoned enough courage to talk to the other about their crush. However, she could see that the awkward situation was getting to both of them.

"They're both unsure right now." Levy noted.

"What are you three looking at?" Came a voice from behind that startled the trio. They all screamed as they saw Erza standing behind them with a curious look in her eyes.

"Oh, nothing!" Levy jumped up to try and cover the window. "Nothing at all!"

Erza tried to peek around Levy and Mira, but the duo adjusted so that they blocked her line of sight. Erza looked between the two before sighing. "It's Natsu and Lucy, isn't it?" She asked.

"Wha… how'd you know?" Mirajane asked.

"Oh… well you see…" Erza coughed into her fist. She was unaware that the group before her already knew the situation, so she attempted to play it cool. "That doesn't matter; let me see." Erza gathered with the other three and looked out of the window. "They look like they're frozen… what's going on?"

"We don't know." Mirajane sweat dropped.

"I think they're just having trouble saying what they're feeling right now." Levy observed.

"Saying what they're feeling?" Erza repeated. "You mean that they've… uh…"

Levy turned to Erza. "You saw what happened on the train… didn't you?" She accused coyly.

Erza's eyes moved to meet Levy's. "So you know as well?"

"Lucy told me everything."

"Hold on!" Mira pointed out the window, interrupting Erza and Levy. "Something's happening!"

Meanwhile outside the guild, Natsu and Lucy kept staring at each other. Eventually, Lucy turned to start going into the guild hall. "Alright… I'll see you-"

"Lucy, wait!" Natsu reached out and grabbed her hand, earning a surprised look from Lucy. "Sorry… Happy told me exactly what I said last night…"

"Natsu, you don't have to apologize-" Lucy started.

"No that's not it." Natsu paused. He knew he'd have to confront this situation eventually; he had just hoped he'd have more time to prepare. "I'm… new to this."

Lucy raised her eyebrow in confusion. "What?"

Natsu growled for a second as he looked to the ground, trying to find words. "I'm new to these feelings, ok? I've never felt this way before and I have no idea what the hell I'm doing."

Lucy turned back to face Natsu. "What kind of feelings?"

Natsu felt his face grow hotter than normal as he looked at Lucy. "Oh come on… I can't say it…"

Now Lucy was invested. She had to know. She had to be absolutely sure about what was transpiring before her. "In your sleep you said that you… love me. Did you mean it?" Lucy asked.

"I… I don't know." Natsu struggled to answer.

"How can you not know?" Lucy asked.

Natsu growled again before grabbing hold of a pillar next to the entrance. "Damn it!" He yelled as he smashed his head into the pillar, cracking it considerably. Lucy jumped in surprise as he smashed his head into the pillar again. He pulled his head back in preparation for another frustrated attack, but Lucy jumped forwards and grabbed Natsu from behind. She struggled to hold him back.

"Natsu, stop!" She pleaded. "You… you don't have to answer that right now if-"

Natsu gently set his forehead against the pillar, grabbing his scalp with both hands in confusion. "I don't know! I don't know what love is, ok?!"

"Natsu…" Lucy said softly.

"I know what sadness is!" He started. "And I know hate, jealousy, happiness, all that stuff, but I have no freakin clue what love is!" He broke free of Lucy's grasp and turned to face her. "Look, I've found myself thinking about you even when you're not around! I get a tingle down my spine whenever we touch… and I feel like my flames are hotter whenever we're together!" Natsu said, shocking not only Lucy, but the eavesdroppers as well.

"And yesterday, when I heard you got yourself kidnapped by that freak… I couldn't stand it! I felt like my chest was going to explode, it hurt so much!" Natsu admitted. "And yeah, I was a little pissed that you went and did that! But that's the kind of person you are; getting kidnapped on purpose in order to save the lives of some girls you've never met… and those are the kinds of things that make these feelings I have even stronger!"

Tears started forming in Lucy's eyes as she listened to this, and Natsu violently rubbed his head "AGH! It's all so freakin confusing!"

"Wow… Natsu actually just said those things…" Levy said, surprised.

"When the hell did this happen?!" Someone shouted from behind the group. They all turned around in shock to see not only Gray and Elfman observing the situation unfold, but the entire guild as well. Wizards were pressed up against multiple windows and watching duo's exchange, including Gajeel, Jet, and even Master Makarov.

"It takes a _real man_ to confess like that!" Elfman commented.

"That flame brain is actually head over heels!" Gajeel noted.

"This does explain a lot." Makarov nodded.

Mirajane, Erza, Levy, and Happy all looked at each other with concerned expressions. "Well… this will make things interesting, at least." Mira sweat dropped.

"Yeah, no kidding." Levy agreed.

Lucy fought to hold in the tears as she stared at Natsu. "Is that… really how you feel?"

"Like I would lie about this stuff!" Natsu blushed. "I've been trying to make sense of it for a while, but I never-" Lucy suddenly pulled Natsu into a tight embrace and started crying tears of joy. Natsu's eyes widened at this before he felt Lucy's tears through his coat. After about a second, Natsu wrapped his arms around Lucy and they shared a rather tight embrace.

"I feel the same way…" Her voice was almost a whisper. "I'm not sure for how long, but... I realized it back at the Grand Magic Games!" Lucy confessed, pouring her heart out. "I didn't... I was so scared of what would happen if I told you! I didn't want to risk our friendship if you didn't feel the same way… you're my best friend, the one who's always believed in me no matter what… and I didn't want to lose that!"

Natsu let his hand shift through Lucy's golden locks, gently holding her by the back of her head while they hugged. He felt his heart beating much faster than normal, but he didn't mind it. This time it felt… soothing. "I was scared too." Natsu admitted. Indeed, he would've never admitted it before, but he was scared of these feelings as well.

Suddenly, Natsu and Lucy heard cheering from the inside of the guild hall. They both slowly glanced up at the guild and saw all of Fairy Tail cheering, clapping, and whistling through the windows. "What the hell?! You jerks were peeping?!" Natsu yelled.

"Nice work there, Natsu!" Laxus laughed out of the window.

"Congratulations, Lucy!" Evergreen shouted.

"Oh god…" Lucy buried her face in Natsu's chest and tried to ignore them. "I didn't know they were listening..."

"Hey, you two should kiss!"

"WHAT?!" Natsu and Lucy shouted at the same time, staring up at the guild with wide eyes. They didn't know who said it, but it had taken them completely off guard.

"That's a great idea!"

"Come on, KISS!"

"Now you guys are just being weird!" Lucy yelled. They had _just then _confessed to each other; she wasn't sure if they should do something like so soon! Wouldn't that be a huge step in a relationship that just started?!

"Seriously?" Natsu asked as he raised an eyebrow at the guild. He wondered if that kind of thing was normal to do at this point. He trusted his guild with his life, but even Natsu admitted that there was more than a few screws loose.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" The members of Fairy Tail chanted, growing louder and louder with each chant.

Natsu rolled his eyes as he looked up to the sky and sighed. "Aaaggghhhh…. Screw it!"

"What're you-" Before Lucy could finish her sentence, Natsu pressed his lips against hers. The warmth of his mouth sent a current running through her body, and when she recovered she threw her arms around Natsu's neck as she lost herself in his hot breath and soft lips. Natsu felt another tingle shoot down his spine as he pulled her in as close as he could.

"Thata' _man_ Natsu!" Elfman cheered.

"Whooo! Give it to him, Lucy!" Cana yelled before taking another drink.

Juvia suddenly wrapped her arms around Gray from behind. "Oh Darling, seeing them admit their feelings to each other is making my passion for you burn like a fiery inferno!"

"What the- get offa' me!" Gray yelled in surprise.

"Well that escalated quickly…" Erza noted.

After a moment, Natsu and Lucy pulled away from each other and stared into each other's eyes. "That was… freakin awesome." Natsu said with a surprised smile.

"Yeah… it was." Lucy agreed.

"I don't know if this is love… but whatever it is I like it!" Natsu claimed.

"Me too." Lucy replied, her face aglow. "I hope this moment never ends."

* * *

**AND ZEER YOU HAWV IT!**

**And I know what you're going to say. "Oh, it's still really short!" Yeah well, I don't usually write chapters back to back like this, so don't get used to it! I'll be writing much longer chapters at a slower pace eventually, so… yeah.**

**I hope you enjoyed! GOOOOOD NIGHT!**


	3. Chapter 3: The First Date

**What's up peeps?! Welcome to another chapter of Fairy Tail: A Guild Life!**

**I'm currently in the middle of writing chapters for my other two stories as well, which if you don't follow me are Halo 4: A Rip in Time and Pokémon: Hopes &amp; Dreams. I put my stories on hiatus a few months ago due to personal reasons, and I apologize for that. **

**But I'm back now, and I'm firing on all cylinders for these stories! Halo 4 is just a handful of chapters away from being finished, and I've got several more ideas for stories that I'll probably start up after I finish it.**

**What my **_**basic **_**plan involves is this: I will be working on no more than three stories at a time, due to the chapters taking forever to come out in the first place. Can you imagine how slowly I'd update this story if it was one of TEN I was working on? Yeah… not gonna to do that.**

**ANYWAY! I hope you guys enjoy your daily dose of prescribed NaLu!**

* * *

**-A Guild Life-**

**-Chapter 3-**

Somewhere within the Sorcerer Weekly Magazine headquarters, a man wearing a pink t-shirt, blue jeans, brown shoes and black sunglasses sat in his chair writing a story he'd been working on for a few weeks. He ran a hand through his styled blonde hair as he continued to type at his typewriter, when suddenly a single large strand of his hair shot up like an antenna on his head and quivered. He jumped up from his seat, his face contorted in a shocked and bewildered look. "What… is this?! The COOLNESS is off the charts!" The strand of hair pointed west like a compass, and the man knew exactly what he had to do. "It's Fairy Tail… something COOL is happening! OH YES!" With a big grin on his face, he grabbed his camera case and dashed out of the headquarters faster than a bullet train, leaving a trail of dust and papers in his wake as he passed his coworkers. "THIS IS GOING TO BE SO COOOOOL!" He yelled as his voice faded into the distance.

_oooOOOOooo_

With not a cloud in the sky, sunlight shot down from the heavens and illuminated all of Fiore in its warm light. But nowhere else did the light shine brighter than on Magnolia's Fairy Tail Guild Hall. Beams of light shone through the hall's multitude of wide open windows just a mere twenty minutes after Natsu and Lucy's unexpected public display of affection, and understandably the Fairy Tail guild was still trying to wrap their heads around what had transpired.

"Let's hear it for Lucy and Natsu!" Elfman yelled at the top of his lungs, raising a glass into the air. The entire guild cheered along with him, and those who had glasses raised them as well. At the center of all this chaos sat Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza at a long table. Natsu had his arm around Lucy, whom was leaning into him in a sort of cuddle position. Natsu couldn't help the big grin that made its way across his face, and Lucy couldn't stop giggling.

"This calls for another drink!" Cana yelled as she chugged down a whole glass of whatever she had managed to get her hands on this time.

"Congratulations you two!" Levy cheered.

"It looks like things have gotten out of hand again." Erza observed with a small smile on her face. As per usual, the guild was absolutely ablaze with activity.

"Yeah, no kidding." Lucy agreed. "I had no idea that us… well… getting together… would be such a big deal!"

"It's freakin crazy." Natsu agreed.

"Are you joking?!" Levy asked with a smile. "This is amazing news!"

Gajeel walked over and leaned on the table facing Natsu. "Some speech you made back there, Salamander. Really sounded like Shakespeare, especially that part when you smashed your head into the wall." He said sarcastically. Natsu narrowed his gaze at Gajeel, who of course was smiling back with that devilish grin to instigate.

Levy looked at Gajeel for a moment before crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. "Well… maybe _you_ could learn a thing or two from him, Gajeel." She advised seriously.

Gajeel glanced over with a confused look. "S'that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what that means." Levy replied simply. The whole group around them laughed at the exchange, including Natsu and Lucy.

"So… what's next for you guys?" Gray asked, setting his head in his hands as he leaned on the table.

Natsu and Lucy glanced over with confused expressions. "What do you mean?" Natsu asked.

"I mean: what are you guys going to do now?" Gray tried to rephrase his sentence. "Like… I don't know… are you gonna do something together?"

"What… you mean like a date?" Lucy asked, curious.

"Hm?" Natsu glanced back and forth between Gray and Lucy. "What's a 'date'?" Lucy, Gray, and Erza all stopped what they were doing and stared over at Natsu with dumbstruck faces. Natsu's eyes widened slightly as he realized that he must've just done something wrong. "W-what? What'd I do?!"

"Natsu… you don't know what a 'date' is?" Lucy asked, shocked.

"Are you an idiot?" Gray asked.

"What'cha say to me, you streaker?!" Natsu slammed his hand down on the table and leaned over at Gray.

"Are you deaf _and _stupid, you pyro?!" Gray asked, getting right up in Natsu's face.

Erza hit both of them on the head, causing the situation to be extinguished immediately. "Enough! Get a hold of yourselves!"

Natsu rubbed the top of his head. "Look… this is a first time thing for me, alright?!" Natsu defended himself, looking at Erza, Gray, and Lucy. "I've never… had this kind of thing happen to me. Jeez…"

Lucy smiled at Natsu. "Well… a date is when two people go somewhere that they can have fun enjoying each other's company."

"Oh! So like going to a park or fishing?" Natsu asked, just to clarify.

"Something like that." Lucy replied with a giggle.

"Or we could go out on a dangerous mission where we have to take on several armed bad guys by ourselves!" Natsu laughed in excitement as he rubbed his hands together manically.

"Uh, we are _definitely_ not doing that!" Lucy sweat dropped. "How about we start with something simple? Like… uhhh…" She thought for a moment, considering and weighing different options. "Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "We could go to the fair on the other side of town!"

"A fair?!" Natsu's ears perked at the sound. "Count me in!"

Happy flew overhead eating a fresh fish. "Can I come too!?" He asked excitedly.

"Nope." Natsu said simply. "Lucy said it's gonna to be just the two of us, so that's how it is!"

Lucy jumped up from the bench and grabbed Natsu's hands, pulling him up as well. "Come on! Let's go!" She said excitedly, barely able to contain herself.

"Wait, right now?!" Natsu asked, surprised.

"Why not!" Lucy asked, completely ecstatic. "It's only noon, so we still have plenty of time!"

After a moment, a large smile stretched across Natsu's face as he looked at Lucy. "Okay, alright!" He agreed. "Seeing you like this really gets me all fired up!"

"Natsu, hang on!" Happy flew next to his pink-haired friend and pulled him aside for a moment. Lucy raised an eyebrow as the two whispered to each other for about a minute, then they bumped fist-to-paw before Natsu walked over to Lucy.

"Alright, you ready to go?" Natsu asked. The two laughed as they dashed past several guild members on their way to the exit. Gray and Erza couldn't help but smile at the two as they left the guild hall, closing the doors behind them.

"This is an interesting development." Erza commented.

"No kidding. I never thought I'd see flamebrain get all lovey dovey." Gray laughed.

Suddenly, the doors to the Fairy Tail Guild Hall flew open with a bang and blinding white light shot through the doors. "What the- who's that?!" Levy asked.

"I SMELL SOMETHING COOOOOOL!" Jason yelled as loud as he could before collapsing on the floor in a heap. Everyone in the guild hall stopped what they were doing and just stared at the sorry sight. Jason was panting harder than a dog in heat and was sweating bullets from his hasty trip to Magnolia.

"What the hell- what's that guy doing here?!" Gray asked as he jumped out of his seat.

_oooOOOOooo_

Dozens of people lined the sidewalks of Magnolia, going about their daily lives. Some people were out shopping, others were on their way to work. Two people among this crowd were Natsu and Lucy, walking side by side towards the fair. Natsu had both hands behind his head as he walked, and Lucy simply kept her hands to her sides. After a few minutes Natsu glanced over at a passing couple, observing their behavior. The two seemed to be having a great time; walking hand-in-hand to wherever they were heading and smiling at each other. Natsu kept his gaze on the couple until they made a turn into a nearby shop, earning a curious look from Natsu.

"Hm." Natsu looked over at Lucy, making note of her stunning smile as they traversed the paths of Magnolia. He glanced between her hand and his, apparently wondering if he should try out what that other couple was doing. Was that kind of thing what couples always do? He wasn't sure, but he wanted to try it.

Natsu looked in the other direction and carefully reached over to take hold of Lucy's hand, earning a slightly surprised look from Lucy. "Huh?" A tingle ran up the length of Natsu's arm as he did this, and he felt his face get a little hot. How ironic… the hottest flames in the world couldn't even come close to making his face feel that way.

Lucy looked down at both their hands, and her face went completely flush with red. She observed how Natsu was trying to keep his gaze facing forward, but it was futile. Try as he might his eyes eventually met hers, and Natsu couldn't help the nervous smile that formed on his face. Seeing Natsu this way was an absolute first for Lucy, since he was usually very bold and courageous. She couldn't help but smile back, and the two entangled their fingers as they walked closer together.

oooOOOOooo

After a short, silent walk, our couple had arrived at the Magnolia Fair. "Whoa! This place is massive!" Natsu noted in surprise as he and Lucy walked through the main gate together. The fair had to run at least half the length of Magnolia, but it was three times as lively. People came from all over Fiore to ride the roller coasters, eat cotton candy, and test their luck in the hundreds of games around the park.

"There's so much to do here, it's kind of overwhelming." Lucy said, blinking.

Natsu gasped and pointed over to the biggest ride in the park; a large grin appearing on his face. "Lucy, look! 'The Mutilator'! That sounds awesome!" Lucy followed Natsu's gaze with a bleak expression, her jaw dropping at the sheer size and terrifying twist and turns of the coaster. One of the coaster cars happened to zoom past at that moment, with the screams and pleads of the riders making Lucy shiver as they vanished into an underground section of the ride.

"Oh… that looks… terrifying…" Lucy said with a deadpan expression.

Natsu felt Lucy's grip on his hand tighten, earning a curious gaze at Lucy. "Hm? What's wrong? You don't want to ride that?"

Lucy put a hand up in denial. "No! It's not that. I'm just..."

"Then let's go!" Natsu replied happily as he dragged a hesitant Lucy towards the ride. While the line to the ride was fairly long, it kept moving relatively quickly. Lucy observed Natsu's excitement grow the longer they were in the line, but Lucy only grew more nervous. After just about eight minutes, Natsu and Lucy had made it to the front of the line.

"Finally! Took us long enough." Natsu said; leaning against the railing to the front car. He looked back at Lucy, and was surprised to find her looking a little distracted. "Yo Luce, are you okay?" He asked, snapping her out of her stupor.

Lucy looked at Natsu. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine, thanks." She replied. Just then, the coaster car pulled into the loading bay and came squealing to a stop. The Lacrima located on the top of the car, which powered the ride, stopped glowing. This powered down the ride and allowed the passengers to unlock their harnesses and jump out.

Natsu smiled excitedly as the gates opened. "It's our turn!"

Lucy couldn't help but smile at Natsu's enthusiasm. _Well… maybe I'm over reacting a bit._ She thought to herself._ It's just a roller coaster. It can't be that bad can it?_

Thankfully, it really wasn't as bad as Lucy had first expected. The only thing that really frightened her was the initial takeoff, which was a sudden acceleration through a tunnel full of lights. Natsu was grinning all the way through; putting his hands up at one point when the coaster dipped down nearly to 70 degrees. Even Lucy started smiling near the end of it, managing to stay calm by taking hold of Natsu's hand. He didn't mind it, of course.

After the ride was over, the couple jumped off the coaster and followed the line out of 'The Mutilator' towards a small building beside the ride. "Man, that was awesome!" Natsu commented.

"Yeah, it really _was_ pretty cool." Lucy admitted as she walked besides Natsu. While they were walking, Lucy had a thought. "You know… I just realized something." She started. "We just rode a rollercoaster… so how are you not being affected by your motion sickness?"

Natsu put his hands behind his head, realizing that she was right. "Ha! I guess I'm just more awesome than I… thought..." Natsu suddenly froze in place, still wearing his cheerful face. Lucy stopped to look back at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh… Natsu?" Lucy stepped towards the fire breather. A large sweat drop appeared on the side of Natsu's temple, and his face turned green. Before Lucy could react, he fell backwards onto the ground with spinning eyes. "Oh my God! Natsu!"

ooooOOOoooo

"You wanna put them in the new Wizarding Couple's section of Sorcerer Weekly?" Gray asked Jason as he, Erza, and Levy sat across the table from him.

"Totally! I think it would be SO COOL!" Jason replied. "Salamander is one of the most popular Wizards that people read about in the magazine, and Lucy… our male demographic can't get enough of her! Not to mention all the girls that look up to her too!"

Levy thought for a moment. "Well… now that he mentions it, this _would_ be some pretty shocking news to read about in the magazine."

Jason glanced at Levy. "It's not just shocking! IT'S-"

"Cool, yeah, we get it." Gray interrupted Jason.

Jason narrowed his eyes at Gray. "Stealin my thunder… that's cold brah." Jason smiled and laughed a little. "Heehee… get it?"

"Hilarious." Erza replied sarcastically. "Anyway, you say that you intend to take photos… and what? Interview them?"

"Oh, no no no no no! Not them!" Jason replied. "The point of this new section is to take photos of the couple and interview their friends!"

"You're going to interview everyone in Fairy Tail?" Levy asked, resting her head in her hands as she looked at Jason.

"I hope that's not a problem?" Jason asked. "I mean… I won't interview anyone who doesn't want to be." Erza, Gray, and Levy all looked to each other and smiled. No way in hell were they going to miss an opportunity like this.

ooooOOOoooo

Lucy rubbed Natsu's back as he leaned over a banister next to the ride, still disoriented from his motion sickness. Natsu attempted to regain his composure; swallowing hard and trying to focus on the feeling of Lucy's hand. "Lucy…?" Natsu asked weakly.

"Yes, Natsu?" Lucy replied.

"Let's... _not_ do that again…" Natsu joked as he groaned.

Lucy sighed; a small smile across her face. "Honestly… you need to be more careful next time."

"I'm sorry…" Natsu apologized, looking back at Lucy with a weak grin. "I was so excited to do something with yah, I guess it slipped my mind." Lucy felt herself blush as she smiled warmly at Natsu.

"Well, I totally forgot about it too... So I guess you're not alone." Lucy giggled. After a few moments, Natsu managed to stand up straight and take a deep breath.

"Are you good?" Lucy asked, still rubbing his back.

"Ugh… Yeah… I'll be fine. Thank you." Natsu replied, grateful for Lucy's calming nature. The pair made their way down a small set of stairs, across a sidewalk away from 'The Mutilator', and towards a small picture booth. Lacrima screens were floating above a cashier when they stepped into the small building, and Lucy took notice of the first screen to the far left.

Lucy pointed to the screen. "Natsu, look! There we are!"

Natsu followed her gesture to the screen on the far left, and saw himself and Lucy at the front of the coaster. They were holding hands in the picture; Natsu had his fist forwards as he cheered, and Lucy was laughing at Natsu's display. "Oh cool, look at that!" Natsu said with an excited expression.

Lucy went ahead of Natsu and stepped up to the cashier whom was a, spiky, brown haired gentlemen. "Gooooood evening children! How are you today?" The man asked.

"Hi! How much for a picture from the ride?" Lucy asked.

"That would be 1,300 jewel for a single photo." The cashier replied. "However, if you want a pair you can get two for 1,800 jewel."

"You planning on getting a picture, Lucy?" Natsu asked.

"Actually I was thinking that we both could get one." Lucy replied, turning to him.

Natsu smiled. "Good idea!" He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. "Could we get two of those?" Natsu asked as he pulled out 1,800 jewel.

"Certainly!" The cashier replied happily, kneeling down behind the counter.

"Paying for the pictures?" Lucy asked, slack-jawed. "I'm impressed, Natsu!"

"Happy told me some things." Natsu admitted.

"Oh? What kind of things?" Lucy asked, curious.

Natsu glanced over at Lucy, a bit of blush appearing on his face. "Well… first that jerk said not to be 'dumb'." Lucy giggled a little at this, earning a slight smirk from Natsu. "Then he said a good boyfriend pays for the stuff that he does with the girlfriend." He paused. "You deserve a good boyfriend… so… yeah." Lucy's surprised gaze was fixed on Natsu for a second, until she took hold of Natsu's arm and pulled him in close without saying a word. Natsu opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated before closing it again. He didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Alright folks, here you are!" The cashier said as he stood back up, holding a black protective leather case. "That 'twould be 1,800 jewel please!" He asked. Natsu handed him the jewel, and in turn the man handed Natsu the case. "I hope you enjoy the rest of your time with us!"

"Oh, we will!" Lucy assured as she and Natsu walked out of the building, new photos in hand. The Cashier smiled at the two as they walked away, when Jason suddenly appeared out of nowhere from behind the counter and took a picture of them. The Cashier jumped back in surprise, wondering where in the world this strange man came from.

"This is going to be so COOL." Jason said to himself.

"Excuse me sir, but only employees can be behind the counter." The Cashier said; his gaze fixed on Jason.

oooOOOOooo

Natsu and Lucy had made the mutual decision to avoid roller coasters for the rest of their time at the park, however this didn't hinder their ability to have fun in the slightest. Their first stop was at a gaming booth with water guns and targets. The couple competed against each other in the game, with Lucy actually hitting more targets than Natsu. There were dozens of other games that the two found and lost themselves in, but eventually they grew hungry and looked around for a place to eat. Of course, while Natsu and Lucy were minding their own business, Jason lurked in the shadows taking photo after photo of the date. He was getting some seriously good stuff; hand holding, laughing, playing, and Lucy even fed Natsu a meatball at one point that the pyro downed in one bite. But even will all this, Jason still felt that he was missing something. He didn't know what, but it just felt… incomplete.

As the date went on Natsu and Lucy hadn't even noticed Jason's presence, or even the time of the day. Before they knew it the whole day ticked on by, and the sun started to set in the distance. The sky was set ablaze with hues of red, orange, and yellow as the sun started slowly but surely moving behind the water on the horizon. Natsu and Lucy had decided to sit down on a bench at the edge of the pier as they finished off their ice cream, and Jason, god have mercy on his soul, was hiding in an empty trash bin behind them with his camera at the ready.

"So… today was a lot of fun~!" Lucy admitted as she smiled at Natsu; the stuffed white teddy bear Natsu won for her sitting on her lap.

"Oh yeah!" Natsu agreed, finishing off his Ice cream cone. "It was the most fun I've had in a _long_ time!"

The two sat in silence for a while just watching the sunset, until Lucy eventually leaned over and rested her head on Natsu's shoulder. Natsu glanced over and smiled. "This is nice." Lucy said with a beatific expression.

"Mmm-hmm." Natsu nodded.

"Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

Lucy turned her head to look Natsu in the eyes, her heart skipping a beat. "I love you." She herself couldn't believe she said it; after all that time she was finally able to say it without worry or doubt.

Natsu was stunned for a moment. He didn't know what to say; would a compliment do? No… he didn't know why but he felt that was inappropriate. Natsu swallowed hard. "I love you too, Lucy." He said, causing his face to burn with blush. Yes… that's what he was trying to say.

Another moment of silence between them took hold for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually they both started to shift on the bench and started to stand. "Well… it's getting late." Lucy started.

Natsu laughed softly. "Yeah, we should get back to-" Natsu and Lucy both put their hands on the bench to give themselves support to stand, but they unwittingly put their hands atop each other's in the process. They both stared down at their hands for a moment before looking back up at each other. They hadn't realized it until then, but their faces were practically three inches apart. Lucy could feel the heat from Natsu's body, and Natsu could smell Lucy's favorite perfume.

Their bodies started gravitating towards each other, both unable to glance away from the other for even a second. Lucy suddenly noticed just how cut Natsu really was as she followed his hand up his muscular arm and to his broad shoulder. Lucy felt her mouth go dry, causing her to lick her lips in order to moisten them again.

Natsu couldn't help but notice how beautiful Lucy's brown orbs were from this distance; he could see the sunlight reflecting off them, creating a kind of shimmer to her eyes. He could feel his heart racing a mile a minute, and his breathing grew faster and heavier the closer they got.

As their lips gently came together, both closed their eyes and lost themselves in the blissful electricity that shot down their spines. They both felt the hair on the back of their necks stand straight up from the tingle, only serving to pull them closer together. Lucy didn't think his mouth would be so warm; the caress of his lips was softer than she could have imagined.

After another moment, the two slowly pulled apart and rested their foreheads against each other as their breathing grew heavy. A large grin stretched its way across Natsu's face as he laughed softly; gazing deep into Lucy's eyes.

"Was that something Happy taught you this morning?" Lucy joked in between breaths.

"No… that was actually Erza." Lucy's eyes suddenly widened in a haunting expression. "She did teach me and Gray a lot of stuff when we were younger."

"W-what?!" Lucy asked, sitting up straight and staring at Natsu.

Natsu busted a gut laughing. "I'm kidding! Sorry, I couldn't resist!" He wiped a tear from his eye. "It was too good an opportunity to pass up. You shoulda seen the look on your face!"

Lucy started to laugh, but then realized that she should be mad and tried to force away the smile. "You jerk! That totally ruined the mood!" She gently punched him on the shoulder, still attempting not to laugh. She wasn't succeeding very well, though.

While this touching moment was going on, Jason was there to photograph every minute of it. He finally got what he'd been missing; the thing that he called the "money shot", as well as some other impressive photos from earlier in the day. "That was so COOL." He whispered to himself. Along with the interviews he'd set up in the morning, he had an entire article ready to be edited and shipped out on Wednesday- just two days away.

He knew for a fact: Fiore was going to love this.

* * *

**O\\\\\\\\\O**

**Kawaii!**

**Ugh wow…. Never saying that again. Doesn't really suit me, if you know what I mean. Well, I love anime just as much as the next guy, but that was just…. No.**

**ANYWHO! I do have some surprises in store for you guys later on in the story that I'm SUPER excited for! I'd rather not spoil anything yet, but let's just say that it's nothing to… **_**kid**_** about! =3**

**You'll see… heehee. Haahaa. HAAHAA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! **_**M~HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**_

***Achem* Uh… sorry. Hope you enjoyed this chapter folks, and I pray you look forward to the next! GOOOOOOOD NIGHT!**


	4. Chapter 4: Calm

**So... wow... it's been a long while since I had time to write anything. The next semester started five weeks ago, and I've been getting slammed with school, homework, and my job almost 24/7. I'm really sorry about taking so long... again. But thank you for hanging in there, because now I have chapter 4 of A Guild Life! Too tired to write anything else, so I'll let you feed your eyes!**

* * *

_**-A Guild Life-**_

_**-Chapter 4-**_

A train whistle blared as hundreds of people from all over Fiore made their way to and from the numerous trains of Magnolia Train Station. Be them wizards, businessmen, or just townsfolk on a trip, everyone seemed in a hurry to be going somewhere. A small group in the crowd stood out as they stepped off of the train and looked around at the familiar scene. "We're back!" A particular bluenette laughed as she jumped for joy.

"That job sure took longer than we first anticipated, right Wendy?" A white flying cat noted as she floated beside Wendy.

"And who's fault was that, Carla?" A rather tall man dressed in robes asked, wearing a medieval style sallet over his face.

"It's not my fault!" Carla crossed her arms defensively. "If I remember correctly, it was you that dropped the watermelon, Bickslow!"

"Only after you lost the thong." Bickslow replied with a grin. "Seriously, at that point the watermelon was useless!"

"In hindsight, that was the weirdest job I've ever taken." A skinny white-haired young lady asked as she stepped off the train. "But at least we got the job done! Erza's advice on the breadsticks really saved us a lot of trouble!"

"Oh yeah, thanks for helping me with that by the way!" Wendy spun around and bowed to the group. "I never would've been able to do it without your help!"

Bickslow laughed and stuck out his tongue. "Don't mention it! We Thunder Legion wizards always help those who need it!"

The group continued on outside of the train station, heading towards the guild hall in the distance. "I wonder if Natsu and the others finished their job yet..." Lisanna thought out loud, putting a finger to her chin.

"That job really sounded scary." Wendy shivered.

"Let's not forget that this is Natsu's team we're talking about here!" Carla pointed out. "Every single one of them can take care of themselves, and each other. They'll be fine." Carla nodded.

"They're probably at the Guildhall right now, goofing off as usual." Lisanna added. "Especially Natsu!"

Wendy smiled. "Yeah, you're probably right!"

The group walked along the stone trail beside some buildings, approaching the Magnolia book store on their left. A short bald man stood outside, holding a magazine and waving it around. "Hey folks! Check out the newest issue of Sorcerer Weekly! This weeks highlight being the new wizarding couples section, and an inside look at Sabertooth's-"

"Oh, cool!" Wendy walked over to a stand of magazines next to the salesman. She grabbed a magazine and inspected it. "Oh yes! I wonder if Alzack and Bisca are featured in-" She suddenly stopped speaking as she grew bug eyed, staring at the collection of pages in her hands.

"Hm? Is something wrong, Wendy?" Carla asked as she flew next to her blue-haired companion. "Don't tell me Gajeel destroyed another- Oh my word!"

Bickslow, curious as to what could be going on, walked over next to Wendy and grabbed a magazine himself. "What's all the fuss... Whoa, that's radical!" He shouted.

Lisanna laughed and walked over to the group. "What is it you guys? I can't see!"

Bickslow wasn't even paying attention to the girls. "Jeez! I leave town for a few days, and look what happens!" He complained, examining the actual article in the magazine. "There's details of a first date and everything in here!"

"Ooooooh a first date!" Lisanna grinned. "Who is it? Gray and Juvia?" She guessed. "Sting and Yukino?! Oh wait! I hope it's Elfman and Evergreen! They're just so-"

Wendy turned around and showed Lisanna the front of the Sorcerer Weekly magazine. There, on it's full glossy front cover, were two figures sitting on a bench by the docks; the massive expanse of the ocean in front of them. The sun was setting in the distance, setting the clouds above and water below ablaze with breathtaking hues of yellow, red, and orange. This particular Celestial Wizard and this particular Dragon Slayer were completely alone in the photo, locked in a soft yet passionate kiss.

"-cute... together..." Lisanna's smile slowly faded as she stared at the photo with wide eyes. Her face went slack, mouth slightly open, body unmoved, and color drained from her face completely. "Na...tsu…?" She managed to mutter.

A metaphorical explosion went off in Lisanna's mind.

_When did... I didn't think... _She couldn't even form coherent thoughts. She stood in silence for a few seconds, only regaining her senses when she realized that Wendy was waving a hand in front of her face. "Oh… uh…"

"Lisanna, are you okay?" Wendy asked, looking up at her with a worried expression. She was expecting more of a giggling school girl reaction from Lisanna, not this pale look. "You look like you've seen a ghost…"

Lisanna suddenly took a deep breath and shook her head. She looked at Wendy with a fake smile. "Yeah, sorry! I just… didn't see that coming."

Wendy turned the magazine back around so she could look at it. "Well it is a little surprising… do you think they just did it for the cover?"

Bickslow turned to Wendy. "No way! Look at page seven, it's legit! They interviewed a bunch of Fairy Tail members before…" Bickslow's voice faded into the background as Lisanna picked up her own copy of the magazine; inspecting it with a curious ferocity.

_Natsu Dragneel… and Lucy Heartfilia. So they're together now? _She thought to herself, unwittingly tightening her grip on the magazine. _I should feel happy for them, shouldn't I? I mean, a guy like Natsu isn't exactly a ladies man… so it's good he found somebody._ She pondered, looking at her own hand as it shook without her command. _So then… why? Why do I feel so… heavy hearted?_

oooOOOOooo

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Natsu yelled; his blazing expression of confusion glaring right at the cover of the newest Sorcerer Weekly Magazine. He was sitting at a booth in the relatively dead 8-Island restaurant along with Lucy, Erza, Gray, and Happy. It had been just two days since Natsu and Lucy had gotten together, and apparently all of Fiore was already well aware of their affection for each other. "An exclusive look at Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfillia's first date?!" He read aloud. "Who the hell- who took these photos?!"

Erza coughed into her fist. "That would be Jason Thompson."

Natsu's gaze shot over to Erza. "That pinhead?! How did he… I didn't even notice him!"

Happy smiled devilishly. "Maybe it's because you were too focused on something else!"

Lucy squinted at the magazine in front of her, turning a page back and forth in her hand as she noticed something shocking. "Wait a minute… Fairy Tail was interviewed?!"

"What?!" Natsu leaned closer to Lucy, raising an eyebrow. "Interviewed about what?! Don't tell me-"

"Our date! Look!" Lucy pointed it out to Natsu. "They interviewed Elfman, Mira, Gajeel… and LEVY?!" Her best friend in the guild was in on this too?! How could Levy do this to her? That traitor!

Natsu turned the page. "Wait a second!" He pointed at some more interviews. "You jerks are on here too! You knew about this the whole time?!"

"Busted." Gray smiled as he rested his chin in his hand.

"This was only inevitable." Erza crossed her arms, letting a tiny smirk appear on her face.

"You no good dirty double crossers!" Natsu said as his jaw dropped to the ground. He couldn't believe that his team would do something like this!

"It's not fair!" Lucy claimed. Her face fell down onto the table with a thud as she pouted. "I finally get front page in Sorcerer Weekly…. and it has to be like this?"

"What's the big deal?" Gray asked, looking bored. "He didn't interrupt your date or get up in your face like he usually does. What's the harm?"

Natsu shot a glare at Gray. "That's not the point!" He shouted.

"Seriously, hear me out." Gray began, looking to Lucy. "You two have finally come together after all this time, and you've found something that most people spend their whole lives searching for." Lucy found herself listening intently to Gray's words. "You're not ashamed of what you have now, are you? You're not embarrassed to be with each other?"

Lucy picked her head up from the table and shook her head. "No, of course not!"

"Don't be stupid, Gray!" Natsu replied.

Gray crossed his arms. "Then why are you so upset about this?" He asked. "This isn't anything to be ashamed of, and I'm sure there are hundreds of people out there inspired by this article." He gestured to Natsu. "I mean, if flamebrain here can find love, why can't other people?"

Lucy let out a sigh. As much as she wanted to get mad and throw a tantrum, she realized that Gray was absolutely right. "Okay… let's just calm down." She replied.. She figured that there was nothing to be done about it now; it happened. Might as well try to figure out how to deal with it rather than getting upset. She was stressed out enough as it was; she didn't need to pop a blood vessel too. "Maybe this isn't a bad thing-"

Natsu, however, didn't feel the same way. "I'm not going to calm down! This wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Natsu, simmer it down." Erza calmly ordered.

Natsu slammed his hand down on the table and stood up violently, crumpling the magazine in his fist as he burned it to ashes with his fire. "NO! That was our moment, damn it! It was just supposed to be between us!"

The table fell silent as they stared at Natsu, who looked down to the ground as he growled. Gray and Erza shifted uncomfortably in their seats as they started realizing how Natsu truly felt, and Happy started feeling guilty. Lucy's eyes grew wide as she stared up at her pink-haired companion. She saw something in his face that made her burn with blush; a kind of downcast expression revealing that he couldn't help his passionate outburst. "It was… just supposed to be us." Natsu repeated as he slowly slumped back in his seat. "Nobody else."

"Natsu…" After a short pause, Lucy inched in closer to the dragon slayer and leaned against him, smiling as she immediately felt the warmth emanating from his body.

Natsu let out a tired sigh as he looked to Lucy with a wan expression. "Sorry… lost control there for a second." He'd been trying to control his temper for Lucy's sake, and she appreciated the idea regardless of it not working out very well.

Lucy slowly shook her head. "Mmm-mmm, don't be." She adjusted herself as Natsu wrapped an arm around her. "You're a sweet guy at heart, you know that?" Natsu looked at Lucy with a tight-lipped expression. He mumbled something before he coughed into his fist, slightly embarrassed. He didn't really consider himself to be 'sweet', but he wasn't going to contradict a compliment from Lucy.

A waitress materialized from the back with four plates of food, setting them down in front of the group with practiced precision. Without saying a word, she refilled Erza's tea and grabbed Lucy another lemonade. Happy opened his mouth to say something, but the waitress handed him a cooked fish on a stick before he could speak. She smiled at Happy and scratched his head as he took the fish with an appreciative nod, then she disappeared into the back once more. The group excitedly dug into their breakfast, and was silent while they ate for a few moments. Well… as silently as Natsu could eat, anyway.

oooOOOOooo

Several clothes racks lined the space of the small shop mere blocks away from Natsu's group, with only about a dozen people wandering between them. "Do you really need all this stuff?" Gajeel asked as he balanced several boxes worth of clothes in his arms. They started to tip to the side, but he managed to readjust them and prevent a disaster. He let out a sigh. Levy, meanwhile, held a ribbon up to her hair to see how it looked.

"What do you think, Gajeel?" She turned to look at him, holding up two different ribbons on the hangers. "Should I go with the red one, or the white one?"

Gajeel groaned. "How should I know? I ain't exactly an expert when it comes to fashion."

Levy huffed. "Oh come on!" She kept moving the ribbons to and from her blue locks, showing off each one for him. "I'm not looking for expert advice, I just want to know what looks better on me!" Gajeel rolled his eyes and looked away. Levy paused as she noticed a sweat drop on Gajeel's face. He grumbled something inaudible and Levy raised an eyebrow. "What?" She asked.

He groaned again, but spoke up. "The white one. It's pretty like… uh…" He hesitated. "I mean... it compliments your hair."

Levy blushed and gave Gajeel an alluring look. "You think I'm pretty?"

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "I… I didn't say that."

Levy smiled. "No, but you were about to."

"Can we just get this over with? I'm dying for some food." Gajeel changed the subject as quickly as he could. He didn't like these mushy moments he tended to have around Levy; it made him feel too… he searched for a word. Weak? No, that wouldn't be right. No _way in hell _was he weak. Vulnerable? Yes, perhaps that was the correct word. Even though his guts were literally stronger than iron itself, Levy always managed to somehow find a crack in his armor.

Lucky for Gajeel, his little subject change worked. "Yeah, I'm a little hungry too." She thought for a moment. "Oh! I think Lucy and the others were going to eat at 8-Island this morning!"

Gajeel narrowed his gaze. "That means Salamander will be there…"

Levy smiled. "So you want to go?"

Gajeel turned his head and replied simply: "No."

Levy raised a confused eyebrow. "Wha-why? What's wrong with Natsu?"

"Tsk." Gajeel looked Levy right in the eye. "I asked him if he wanted to practice some yesterday." Gajeel closed his eyes as he recollected the event. They were both in the guild hall around noon, and Natsu was busy talking to that pesky blue feline.

Levy smirked. "He said he couldn't, didn't he?"

"The jerk said he was too busy!" Gajeel nearly dropped all of the boxes in his anger, but took a step back to rebalance them. "Ghh! I challenged him to a sparring match, and you know what he told me?!"

Levy rolled her eyes, but figured she'd humor him. "What?"

Gajeel growled slightly. "He told me to get lost! The nerve of that fire-breathing idiot!"

Levy allowed herself to giggle. "Alright, if he really is bothering you that much, we can eat somewhere else if you want." Gajeel gestured towards the boxes with his eyes and raised his eyebrow. It took Levy a second to get what Gajeel ment. "Oh, right. Let's drop the boxes off first."

"Now you're talking." Gajeel and Levy started towards the register, both having smiles on their faces.

oooOOOOooo

_Hmmm... So that's how it started. _Lisanna thought to herself as she walked behind her group, reading the NaLu article in the Wizarding Couples section of Sorcerer Weekly. The sidewalks of Magnolia were nearly bare, with only the occasional passerby giving a friendly hello. Wendy and the others were chatting about something, but Lisanna was too focused on her magazine to hear.

_Just three nights ago, huh? _She thought. _It's amazing what can happen in the span of a week. _She closed the magazine and observed the front cover. She felt a twinge of pain in her chest. _Ugh... Why is this happening? Is my breakfast disagreeing with me or something? _She pondered. _No, it doesn't feel quite like that... There's something else about this pai-_

"Look! There's Natsu and the others!" Wendy pointed forward, catching Lisanna's attention. Indeed, there was Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, and Happy heading right towards them. Lisanna smiled as she saw Natsu, but that slowly faded as her gaze followed his arm down to his hand. His fingers were entwined with Lucy's as they walked side-by-side, talking about something she was too far away to hear. "Hey guys!" Wendy called out, waving and jogging at them.

They all stopped when they heard the familiar voice, and looked over to see Wendy's group approaching. Smiles appeared on everyone's faces as they converged on each other, save for Lisanna. "Hey, you guys are back!" Lucy said with joy as she waved.

"Yes, we just got in a few minutes ago!" Carla nodded as she floated next to Wendy.

"Carla!" Happy floated up next to the white furred feline, trying to act cool. "It's okay if you missed me! I missed you too!"

Carla sweat dropped. "Do you just hear random words come out of people's mouths?"

"Soooo... Natsu and Lucy." Bickslow started, getting the wizards' attention. "You two actually hooked up, huh?" He asked, getting straight to the point. "Is it true?"

"Well…" Natsu rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. Lucy also had a slight blush to her face, so the couple opted to raise and show off their entangled hands instead of explain. "I'm guessing you guys read that stupid dumb magazine?"

Gray turned to face Natsu. "'Stupid dumb'?" He asked.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah! That means it's like… super dumb."

Gray shook his head. "That's a double negative, you idiot."

Natsu felt a blood vessel in his temple expand. "No it's not!"

Gray stood his ground. "Yeah it is."

Lucy turned. "Actually Gray, while it's not really grammatically correct, it's not technically a double negative either."

Natsu grinned. "Ha! See? She's a writer so she would know!"

"_Anyway."_ Carla tried to reel them back in. "Why did you call the magazine stupid? You posed for the pictures, didn't you?"

The blood vessel grew a tad bit more. "Oh, don't even get me started on-" Natsu paused when he noticed Lisanna sheepishly hiding behind Bickslow, and he was met with a drop in blood pressure. "Oh, hey Lisanna! What's up?"

Lisanna suddenly snapped out of her stupor and forced a smile. "Oh… hey Natsu! How've you been?"

"Pretty good. We went over to 8-Island earlier today. That omelet you recommended was awesome!" Natsu claimed.

Lisanna felt her fake smile vanish, suddenly being replaced with genuine joy. "You remembered to try it?" She asked.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, of course! You think I'd forget something like that?" Lisanna's face was glowing at this. She didn't realize why, but suddenly something that should've been very small transformed into something she thought was spectacular. She wondered why, but decided that it didn't matter. She felt happy.

Until, that is, she was reminded of Lucy's presence. "Yeah, it was so good! Natsu let me try a bite of his and I almost died!"

Natsu turned to Lucy. "Yeah seriously, you almost choked on it. It was a piece of food the size of a grape, how did you even manage that?"

Lucy's gasped in surprise. "Hey! Not all of us can pound down three tons of food at once!"

The group around Lucy started to laugh, and although she hesitated at first, she joined in on it as well. "Oh… neat." Lisanna's smile slowly faded as she looked at Natsu. His smile was absolutely beaming, and he was looking right at Lucy. Lisanna slowly started feeling isolated, as the sounds around her mixed into one garbled mess she couldn't pick up on. A dark feeling of depression washed over her for reasons unknown to even herself, and she was left pondering why she felt this way.

oooOOOOooo

It was bright, yet eerily quiet, and mind-numbingly cold throughout the halls of the Pergrande Kingdom castle. The number of guests to grace one specific hall had been blindingly few in number, though once every week there was a special exception. A single set of footsteps echoed throughout the hall built of marble, the sound bouncing off the mighty columns of white granite supporting the three story tall roof.

A lone figure ventured this hall towards the single wooden door at the end. He wasn't at all impressed by the structure of the castle anymore, for he had become far too accustomed to seeing it. He wore a simple white armored robe, and walked with great purpose until he reached the door. He knocked three times, and waited.

"You'd better have a damned good reason for disturbing me!" Bellowed a young man's voice from beyond the door. While annoyed, there was still somehow a hint of chivalrousness in his voice.

"Lord Davis." It was all the man had to reply with before the door cracked open, revealing the face of a red-headed young man. He was undeniably handsome, even with the sweat on his face and unkempt hair that was brushed back.

"Ah, Grava. Please, come in." The boy opened the door for the man and let him inside, revealing a harrowing sight. A young blonde woman had each limb chained to a bed with several lashes decorating her almost naked body, some even going deep enough to draw small amounts of blood. She was bruised from head to toe, clearly having been beaten for an extended period of time. Despite her injuries, the woman maintained a devilish grin on her face.

"Oh come now, my lord. I was almost there!" She begged.

The man held up his hand to her. "A moment, Romola." He turned back to face Grava. "Is it Monday already? I hadn't even noticed."

"Yes, my lord." Grava nodded. "I've brought it for you." Grava reached into his robe and pulled out a slender paper folder, handing it to Lord Davis.

Davis ripped apart the paper, pulling out the newest Sorcerer Weekly issue. "Oh, yes! Hell _yes_! It feels like forever since the last one!"

"You say that everytime I bring you the next issue, my lord." Grava claimed, stoic.

"Oh shut up, Grava." Davis gave him a glance. "I can't help it of I-" He paused for a moment as he stared at the kissing couple on the cover of the magazine. He examined it closely. "The new wizarding couples section? Huh…" He pointed to the pink-haired man in the picture and looked at Grava. "Who is that? I think I've seen them before…"

"That is Natsu Dragneel of the Fairy Tail guild in Fiore." Grava responded simply.

Lord Davis raised an eyebrow, before realizing he had made a mistake. "Apologies, I meant to point to her." His finger shifted to the blonde. "Her. I've seen her before, I know it."

"She is Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of Jude Heartfilia. She is also a member of Fairy Tail." Grava replied. Lord Davis stared at the stunning woman in the picture before him. He knew for a fact he had seen her… not just in a picture, but in person. But where… where had he- _Holy shit. _He was hit with a wave of realization. He had indeed seen her, nine years ago. It was at her estate, during his father's business meeting with Jude. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen… ever _desired._

"Lucy Heartfilia…" He said with a dark voice, a sneer appearing on his face. "I remember now. I thought you were dead... But it seems fate would have other plans for us." He paused, and examined the picture further. "Who is this garbage you let caress your lips with his own?"

Grava looked around for a moment. "My lord, I have no idea what you are talking about, but I don't like that tone."

Davis slowly turned to Grava. "This Fairy Tail... You said it was in Fiore?"


End file.
